Healthful Hints
Don't Count Calories! Make your Calories Count!
Americans are the most overfed yet undernourished population in the world. Two thirds of Americans are classified as overweight or obese. However, according to the USDA Healthy Eating Index, less than 15% consume enough nutrients to meet the criteria for a healthy diet! When low-nutrient-dense foods are frequently consumed in the diet, Vitamin A, vitamin B6, folate, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc intakes are decreased. Americans consume a diet high in calories that come from refined, processed and fast foods that lack nutrients and fail to meet their nutritional requirements.
Our focus on avoiding calories is misplaced. Instead, we should concentrate on finding good, nutritious foods to consume. The impact can be enormous: Nutritious foods keep give us more energy, make us feel better, and help to ward off various diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
When we decide what to eat, our goal should be to maximize nutrient density. This means choosing a naturally nutrient-rich diet: Colorful fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat and nonfat dairy, lean meats, fish, eggs, and nuts.
How to Choose a Nutrient Dense Diet
- Choose the deeper colored fruits. The purples, blues and reds have the most nutrients. (i.e.: purple grapes and all red, purple, and blue berries)
- Choose dark green, orange and red vegetables.
- The best way to prepare vegetables is to steam, grill or roast. These methods help to retain as many vitamins and minerals as possible.
- Use canned or cooked tomatoes more often as they have more antioxidants than raw tomatoes.
- Consume only whole, fortified and fiber-rich grain foods. Read labels carefully and choose breads and cereals with at least 2-3 grams of fiber, if not more.
- Consume 2-3 servings each day of non-fat or low-fat dairy products.
- Limit sugar and salt intake, and avoid trans-fats.
- Avoid juices and soda with high calories and no nutrients. Drinking water is the best way to stay hydrated.
- Consume fish twice per week for the essential fatty acids.
- Michelle McKenna M.S., R.D.
HINTS |
| Keep a bowl of fresh, cleaned fruit out and easily accessible all day. |
| Add spinach leaves and colored peppers to your salads. |
| Juices should provide at least 10% of the RDA for one or more vitamin |
| Buy packaged foods with the shortest list of ingredients or make foods from scratch |
| Add oatmeal to baked goods (ie: cookies, muffins, pancakes) to increase the fiber |
| Include nuts in your diet as a snack. They are a good source of protein, vitamin A, vitamin E and fiber (but watch your serving size!) |
| Tomatoes are lipophilic, which means their nutritional value increases by being cooked in fat. So, add some olive oil to your tomatoes when cooking. |
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